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The Goal of Karma Yoga |
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The Goal of Karma YogaKarma Yoga isn’t all about work, rather, it is about working with total awareness. Yet free from attachment to the fruits of the labor or outcome of the work. The performance of the act is by itself an end, not the means by which the ego attains some sort of reward, remuneration or something else.
The goal of Karma Yoga is to act for the sake of acting it. It is incorrect and a mistaken belief if you think that through Karma Yoga you will benefit. Karma yoga means unconditional work devoid of any sort of expectation. This applies to all spiritual practices like Yoga. The ultimate goal and aim of Yoga is not liberation – the practice itself is really the only goal. One simple technique you can successfully use in Karma Yoga is always to remember to focus on the "work".
During Yoga practices and meditation, you can relieve yourself of troubling and negative thoughts by just focusing on the act. That is the Karma you are doing and that constitutes Karma Yoga. Through the practice of "just sitting" in lotus position (Padmasana), spine, erect, you can attain to a state of mental emptiness to let your true nature reveal itself. Through the practice of Karma Yoga you come to experienced Oneness with no subject/object separation. The act is concentrated upon while doing the asanas, pranayama, bandhas, and mudras. For instance, you do the Surya Namaskar while focusing on your breath. As far as possible, in all Yoga practices try to practice diaphragmic breathing while concentrating on the region of the abdomen.
Basically, all religions teach us to be free of ego. While different religions approach the means to egolessness differently, the fact is that the ultimate goal remains the same. First of all, let’s understand what ego is. Ego is consciousness of a sense of I and Me. Egotistical folks just see things from their own point of view and believe only in themselves not in others. They fail to see things as they are, rather just from their point of view. This, in the bargain, creates a lot of disharmony. Since the aim of human life is to self-realization, you have to be egoless to begin with. |
| Submitted on September 30, 2008 |
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